One of the greatest theologians that ever lived, Karl Barth, was asked to be a guest lecturer at the University of Chicago Divinity School. At the end of a captivating closing lecture, the president of the seminary announced that Dr. Barth was not well and was quite tired, and though he thought that Dr. Barth would like to be open for questions, he shouldn’t be expected to handle the strain. Then he said, “Therefore, I will ask just one question on behalf of all of us." He turned to the renowned theologian and asked, "Of all the theological insights you have ever had, which do you consider to be the greatest of them all?
It was the perfect question for a man who had written literally tens of thousands of pages of some of the most sophisticated theology ever put into print. The students held pencils right up against their writing pads, ready to take down verbatim the premier insight of the greatest theologian of their time. Karl Barth closed his tired eyes, and he thought for a minute, and then he half smiled, opened his eyes, and said to those young seminarians, "The greatest theological insight that I have ever had is this: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
Experiencing God’s love is the most life changing thing a person could ever encounter. God created us to love us. Yet, many feel that because of their mistakes and failures God couldn’t possibly love them. The great news is that God’s love is unearned and undeserved.
So, what is the love of God? How do we define it?
Human love is generally a response to conditions and circumstances around us. We love because someone pleases us, or because they seem attractive, or because they pay attention to us, or because they make us laugh, or because we feel fulfilled around them.
But God’s love comes without human cause. He loves because that is the kind of God He is. Nothing in us causes him to love us. Not our beauty, not our wealth, not our wisdom, not our good deeds, and not our promise to love him back.
Romans 5:6-8 gives us a better understanding. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
God does not love us because we are so lovable. There really is no reason for God to love us. No reason except this: That is the kind of God He is. He loves you and me because God is love and he can’t help loving us, even when we are his enemies.
His love is greater than our sin, and in spite of our sin. He really shouldn’t love us, but He does. Isn’t this amazing?
No matter how you are, where you are from, what you have done, how many times you have failed, and even if you don’t love yourself, God still loves you!
Motivated by His love, God provides a solution to our sin problem. God’s decision goes beyond human reason and comprehension. Only God could come up with a plan like this.
God’s amazing demonstration of love is this: Christ died for us.
The death of Jesus is the complete and final proof of God’s love. Sometimes in this crazy, mixed-up world, people say, “Where is the love of God? We see so much killing, so much heartache, so much tragedy, so much pain, and so much anger. Where is the love of God?”
But today if you will lift your eyes to the cross of Christ. It is there that you will see the love of God.
Today’s Challenge: God’s love calls for a response. We either receive his love or we reject it. It’s my prayer that today you would receive the love of God and that you would respond to his grace. Jesus loves us this we know, because the Bible tells us so.
